Plastic flooring is generally known in the art, and may be installed according to the following steps for a basic floor. First, referring generally to prior art FIG. 5, flat sheets 110 of plastic floor are laid out over the entirety of a sub-floor 112 to be covered, and must be tightly dry fit to one another to ensure tight seams between adjacent sheets 110. Second, floor-wall moldings 114 composed of the flooring material are dry fit at all floor-wall transitions. More specifically, wall portions 116 of the moldings 114 are held against corresponding bases 118 of walls 120, and floor portions 122 of the moldings 114 are overlapped against corresponding margins (not shown) of the floor sheets 110. Third, the floor sheets 110 are scribed along edges of the floor portions 122 of the moldings 114 to define cut lines on the floor sheets 110. Fourth, the moldings 114 are removed and the floor sheets 110 are cut along the scribed cut lines and the excess floor margins are removed and discarded. Fifth, the moldings 114 are dry fit to the freshly cut floor sheets 110 to ensure tight seams between adjacent moldings 114 and the floor sheets 110. Sixth, the floor sheets 110 are removed. Seventh, an adhesive 124 is applied to the sub-floor 112. Eighth, all floor sheets 110 are wet fit and rolled in place over the adhesive 124. Ninth, an additional adhesive 126 is applied to the subfloor 112 and wall bases 118. Tenth, the moldings 114 are wet fit over the adhesive 126. Eleventh, the seams 128 between the floor sheets 110 and the moldings 114 are filled with welding beads 130 by heat welding of rods of the floor material to the sheets 110 and moldings 114.
Currently, high speed welding tips can be used on heat guns for the purpose of accomplishing relatively high speed welding between plastic materials. Typically, such high speed plastic welding tips incorporate an attachment portion that is generally cylindrical for attachment to a heat gun. The attachment portion tapers from its generally cylindrical area to a generally oval output at the opposite end. The output end is used to direct the flow of hot air used in the welding process. A welding rod feed section is secured to the output end. Typically, the welding rod feed section is cylindrical having a generally circular cross-section for receiving a plastic welding rod.
While the aforementioned floor covering method and apparatus are generally effective, certain limitations are inherent. For example, the floor-transition moldings can be somewhat costly and the molding techniques are particularly time-consuming. Also, current welding tips and rod shapes may limit the strength of welds between flooring sheets and moldings.